The farm was raided by local and federal authorities over the weekend. The French are notorious for pot drug-running, and for administrating farms in federal parks and hiding them within wineries, which are also illegal in federal parks.

The FBI's Bruce Hornblatt said that 1500 marijuana plants and 3,000 gallons of cabernet sauvignon, stored in an underground shelter, were seized in the raid, and that Poinsot's name came up in cell phone recordings tapped by the federal agency, Mr. Merkin reported.

"This is absurd," Frederique Michel told Stage Raw. Ms. Michel is artistic director of City Garage and a regular employer of Ms. Poinsot as a costumer for her productions of plays by French authors. "Mr. Merkin is an idiot," Ms. Michel protested. "And Poinsot isn't even French!"

Ms. Michel's production of Ionesco's The Chairs opens this weekend. Poinsot designed the costumes. Watch for tell-tale wine-stains in the fabric.